The barefoot doctor didn't even use acupuncture needles; he simply pinched Li Guihua’s philtrum for a moment, and her breathing steadied. Seeing her open her eyes, he checked her pulse, and once he was certain she was truly fine, he went to tend to the facial injuries of Li Hai, who was still wailing.
Li Hai was indeed crying, but he no longer dared to make much noise, terrified that Nan Yu might find it annoying and come over to beat him again. At twelve years old, Li Hai had always relied on his mother to throw his weight around at home. Now that Nan Yu had essentially "beaten his mother to death," it was no wonder he was scared.
Li Guihua lay on the ground for a while after coming to, slowly recalling what had happened before she lost consciousness. With a sudden jolt, she scrambled up to look at her son. When she saw the state of his face, the rage in her heart surged instantly. However, she wasn't stupid. She and her son had been beaten into such a state by Nan Yu—it was a massive loss. Li Guihua knew she couldn't possibly win in a fight against him. Regardless of how thin and weak Nan Yu looked, he was still a man, and the strength disparity between the sexes was a fact. Plus, as a man who worked the fields year-round, he had a fair amount of raw power. A direct confrontation would never work.
Therefore, Li Guihua decided to adopt a roundabout strategy. She didn't dare do anything to the four siblings right now, but she knew exactly how Nan Dashu felt about her after all these years of living together. If she couldn't move against Nan Yu and the others, she could certainly get Nan Dashu to do the dirty work!
Yet, people are strange; what one thinks so clearly in their mind often comes out quite differently once the words are actually spoken.
Nan Yu knew the matter with Li Guihua was far from over; it was going to be a long, drawn-out conflict. He wasn't in a hurry, though—he would simply deal with blows as they came. Besides, with a man like Nan Dashu, who was completely besotted with his wife, how could anything ever be solved easily?
Putting down the chicken he had just bled, Nan Yu strolled toward the courtyard gate. Before he even reached it, the gate was banged on loudly, accompanied by Li Guihua’s wails and curses.
"Open up! Open up, you heartless, heaven-forsaken thing! You just left me lying outside like that and couldn't care less. I see, you just want me dead! You even told the doctor not to bother with us. You heartless wretch, I’ve raised you for nothing all these years, you—"
*Bang!* The door swung open, and with the force of the door, Li Guihua was kicked out once more, sprawling onto the ground again. Before she could even let out a cry of pain, Nan Yu’s ice-cold voice rang out.
"You raised us? You raised the four of us to be sallow and scrawny, while you raised your own son and daughter to be plump and healthy. You certainly did a fine job! Ever since you stepped into this house, the four of us haven't even tasted meat; we’d get cursed just for catching a whiff of it. You damn well raised us 'great,' didn't you? All the chores were done by the four of us while you just waited to be fed, and you have the nerve to say you raised us? Our family won't dare keep a pest like you here any longer. Anyway, you never registered a marriage certificate with my father; you’re just living together. Now, go back to wherever you came from. If you don't want another beating, get out immediately!"
Li Guihua clutched her stomach, which had been kicked yet again. She could see now that Nan Yu truly had no intention of letting her and her two children stay. But having been beaten so severely, how could she possibly swallow this humiliation? You, Nan Yu, say I should leave, so I’ll just leave? What a beautiful dream!
She shouted toward the courtyard, "Nan Dashu! Are you a dead man? Are you just going to stand there and watch this little bastard bully me like this..."
Before the words had even left her lips, Nan Yu stepped forward, swung his arm around, and began slapping Li Guihua back and forth. The sound of the slaps was sharp and loud. After a few hits, blood began to trickle from the corner of her mouth. Nan Yu knew better than anyone how much he hated Li Guihua. The hatred and regrets from his past life were poured into every single slap. He was definitely putting his full strength into it. Given his current frail physique, even with his full strength, he couldn't actually beat her to death. And since he couldn't kill her, he had nothing to worry about—he would just swing away.
"Nan Yu, stop! Stop it! Don't hit her anymore!" Nan Dashu cried out anxiously, bracing himself against the doorframe of his room. He had pulled a muscle in his leg; every step was agonizing, and just moving from the bed to the doorway had drenched him in sweat. But he still forced himself to the door. Li Guihua was his wife, and his heart ached for her. After finally finding a woman willing to live with him, Nan Dashu was terrified she would be beaten away by Nan Yu.
Nan Yu didn't pay the slightest attention to the shouting Nan Dashu; his slaps didn't stop for a second. Just then, a female voice screamed as she rushed over: "Stop hitting her! Stop hitting my mother!"
Hearing this, Nan Yu knew it was Li Guihua’s daughter. But it didn't matter who showed up—this girl wasn't any good either. If she dared to get in his way, he’d beat her too.
Li Guihua’s daughter, Li Yan, was ten years old. She was lazy and greedy, but she had a silver tongue and knew how to flatter, wrapped Nan Dashu around her finger, and was doted on by him as if she were the apple of his eye. Because she had been well-fed in Nan Yu’s home all these years and never had to lift a finger, she was quite fair-skinned. She couldn't compare to a city girl, of course—after all, she lived in the village—but in terms of the village, Li Yan was one of the prettiest. Though not fat, she still had plenty of meat on her bones compared to Nan Zhi.
Li Yan had gone to a friend’s house at the edge of the village that day. It was quite a distance from their home, so she hadn't known about the commotion when it first started. By the time she heard her mother and brother had been beaten, the crowd of villagers had already dispersed. Hearing that her mother was still lying on the ground, Li Yan had sprinted home, which was why she was only just arriving.
Watching Nan Yu slap her mother, it would be a lie to say she wasn't panicked. But as a young girl, she was terrified of the enraged Nan Yu. So, she only dared to rush up and hug her mother; she didn't dare actually confront him.
"Brother Nan Yu, please stop! Isn't my mother your mother, too? You..."
*Smack!* Her face was instantly swollen from the blow. Nan Yu glared at Li Yan, snarling, "That’s your mother, not mine! If I hear you call her my mother again, I’ll beat you to death!"
Li Yan was stunned by Nan Yu’s ferocious appearance. She had never seen him like this! In her memory, Nan Yu was always timid and submissive. Seeing him now, looking as if he were ready to kill them both, truly terrified her. She didn't even dare to speak, only covering her bruised face with her hands, not even daring to cry. Nan Yu’s current demeanor reminded her of her own biological father—the kind of man who would beat the three of them whenever he felt like it.